CRT News

Jorge Lorenzo starts from pole for the third time this year and for the first time since the Spanish GP at Jerez. This is the fourth successive year that Lorenzo has started from pole at the US Grand Prix.

Lorenzo’s pole position lap is the fastest-ever lap of the Laguna Seca circuit by a motorcycle, 0.146 seconds faster than the previous record set by Casey Stoner during qualifying in 2008.

MOTOGP
–Álvaro Bautista has qualified on pole for the first time in the MotoGP class. His previous best was 4th fastest in qualifying at Phillip Island last year when he was promoted to the front row due to Jorge Lorenzo withdrawing from the race.

-In second place on the grid is Ben Spies – his best qualifying result since the Indianapolis Grand Prix last year.

–Casey Stoner, who takes the final place on the front row, won at Silverstone last year by 15 seconds.

The 2012 MotoGP™ World Championship got underway at Losail on Thursday with the first practice session of the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar, and immediately into the groove was reigning World Champion Casey Stoner. His best lap of the session – a 1’56.474 – headed the opening 45-minute run of the weekend as the new 1000cc machines made their first outing of the season.

The Australian did not have it all his own way however as the leading spot changed hands a few times in the closing minutes of the session, Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) being one rider who led before settling in second at just 0.174s off Stoner with a 1’56.648.

Making it three different bikes in the top three Nicky Hayden rode his factory Ducati to a best time of 1’56.924, whilst Ben Spies on the second Yamaha Factory Racing machine was fourth and the final rider under 1’57”.

After months of anticipation MotoGP™ riders, teams, fans and spectators around the world will finally have their appetites for action satisfied, when the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar gets the 2012 MotoGP™ World Championship off to a start on Thursday. The first practice sessions of the opening round of the new campaign will bring to an end a lengthy 152-day wait since the final race of the 2011 season in Valencia last November, after an intriguing pre-season which has added to the impatience for the racing to begin.

Two major developments in the premier class which have added to the excitement at the dawn of a new era in MotoGP™ are the introduction of a new 1000cc engine capacity limit, up from the previous 800cc cap, and the debut of the new Claiming Rule Teams, for whom nine of the 21 riders will compete.

The MotoGP class was blessed with close to ideal conditions at Jerez on Sunday, where the third and final day of the Official Test took place. With the first practice session of the season’s opening race – the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar – less than two weeks away, all 21 riders who will make up the elite category grid in 2012 were able to pack in a full day’s work at the southern Spanish circuit thanks to clear blue skies and favourable temperatures.

Laying down the gauntlet in the lead-up to the new campaign World Champion Casey Stoner, who on Saturday had ridden just three laps and was one of those most aggrieved by the loss of a day to the poor conditions, was able to make significant progress on Sunday and timed in at 1’38.780. The Australian built up to his fast lap steadily, taking top spot inside the final quarter-of-an-hour of the day and then improving on it with his 61st and final lap. Perhaps of most concern for Stoner’s rivals will have been the consistency of his pace – on his longest run, which was a 10-lap stint prior to his hot lap, his average time was registered at fractionally under 1’39.7.

Team San Carlo Honda Gresini today unveiled its new livery for the 2012 MotoGP, CRT and Moto3 campaigns in the fitting surroundings of the wind tunnel at Milan Polytechnic. It is an ambitious joint programme that the team have labelled “Technology and Passion,” as Alberto Vitaloni and Fausto Gresini continue their wonderful adventure together with their own brand of dynamism and enthusiasm, based around the fundamentals of the present and the future of motorcycle racing. Represented by Alvaro Bautista and the Honda RC213V in MotoGP, Michele Pirro and his Honda CBR1000 RR powered FTR in the new CRT class and young Niccolò Antonelli on the Honda NSF250R in Moto3, San Carlo and Gresini continue their mission to cultivate passion and talent for motorcycling within Italy. At the end of a long day, the students of the Milan Polytechnic were able to meet the team in the true spirit of their “Technology and Passion” motto.

The third and final day of the Official MotoGP™ Test concluded on Thursday at Sepang, with Casey Stoner breaking under the 2 minute mark on just his second lap out to dominate the field by over half a second.

The first on-track MotoGP action of the year concluded on Thursday at the Sepang International Circuit, with the new 1000cc machines noticeably quicker than the 800s of last year as the top four paced under the circuit’s best lap set by Valentino Rossi in 2009.

Casey Stoner was half a second clear of the rest of the field on his Repsol Honda RC213V, with Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa his closest challengers the first part of the day, though an afternoon rain storm halted any attempts to catch up with the World Champion and all lap times from the morning remained unchanged.

Following an intensive development programme over the winter break, Bridgestone is geared up for the first MotoGP group tests of 2012 as evaluation of the tyres that will be used for the upcoming season continues.

With six lap records set on Bridgestone rubber in 2011 and race times at ten of the rounds faster than in 2010, Bridgestone analysed tyre performance data and rider feedback throughout last year to develop tyres for the 2012 season that offer improved warm-up performance, enhanced rider feel and extended operating temperature range.

While the majority of teams take to Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit for their first test, some teams fielding Claiming Rule Team (CRT) bikes this year have already commenced their first shake-down of the year at Spain’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia.

The Gran Premio d’Italia TIM has been announced as the winner of the 2011 IRTA “Best Grand Prix” award, thus securing its fifth title from the Teams’ Association since hosting a Grand Prix for the first time in 1976.

Almost 85,000 MotoGP™ fans were gathered at the Mugello Circuit on the 3rd of July last year to witness the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM, which saw then reigning World Champion, Jorge Lorenzo, take his second victory of the season after battling with his eventual sucessor as title holder, Casey Stoner.

Once again, the Italian venue provided a thrilling spectacle in all three World Championship classes and, despite the weekend being marred by intermittent rain, riders were able to fully enjoy the improved grip levels thanks to the recently laid new tarmac. Off-track, teams and staff were able to work in excellent conditions in a paddock upgraded to MotoGP standards over the past few years.